How to Be a Discord Developer

Discord is arguably the most commonly used communication application at the moment, particularly when it comes to gamers and game enthusiasts. Considering this fact, it’s only natural that many developers want to get their products up on Discord, and reach a wider audience.

If you are an app, game, or bot developer who would like their product to be incorporated into Discord, here is everything you need to know about Discord’s special features, and how to be a developer on this platform:

Building a Team

Firstly, you will need to make a Team on Discord, consisting of engineers, writers, and artists who have worked on your product.

To do this, simply go to Discord’s Team page for developers, and invite your crew.

Games and applications

Whether you’re a game, bot, or actual application developer, Discord refers to everything as “apps”. To that end, you will need to make a specific “app” for your product on the platform.

You can do this by visiting the applications page for developers. Here, you could select your crew from the Team section, and even give your product a description and an attractive icon.

Once that is finished, press the Server Commerce Checklist at the side.

The licensing fee

At this point, the settings you will access will directly relate to your products’ presence. For that reason, Discord will ask you to pay for their Application License Fee, which will provide you with additional tools and options to run product tests, create store pages, or apply for approval to make a commission.

Accessing the server settings

Now, you should see a long checklist, along with prompts urging you to choose a server. As the licensing fee you paid for allows you to test and create channels, you need to choose a specific server you’d like to assign these special features to.

Now is the time to begin building your community, creating your app, and even invite certain people to test out your product. If you wish, now would also be a good idea to familiarize yourself with the special tools Discord offers, such as Dispatch, Game SDK, and the Developer Portal.

To make it simpler to successfully complete this step, you could also follow the checklist, which will take you through the necessary procedure.

Testing the product

If you have the licensing fee, you could utilize the store channels to perform Alpha and Beta testing on your product.

In case someone on your Team would like to perform testing, however, they also have the option of opting for another system that’s known as the Application Test Mode, which allows for simpler testing options.

Getting an approval

Once you’ve gone through the necessary procedure of building a page and a community, the final step is to get an approval and a flag. When your checklist is fully completed, a Get Approved tab will suddenly appear. Click on it, and wait until Discord verifies your product.

In case you need to make some changes, Discord will notify you through an e-mail, detailing the steps you need to take. If not, your product will simply get approved.

Note: Keep in mind that your product doesn’t need to be entirely finished; you could apply for approval at any stage you’re comfortable with.

The Store Page Published & Available options

After you’ve received your approval from Discord, you will see two new options appear in the Developer Portal: Store Page Published and Available.

  • When the Available option is toggled on, your product will be available for regular purchase and distribution, and any users will have the opportunity to get your product. So, make sure that your pricing is correct!

         Whenever you want to stop your product from being available, you can mark it as Unavailable once again. This action will only prevent new people from buying the product, it won’t remove it from the old user’s libraries.

  • The Store Page Published option will do exactly as expected. While your store page will always be viewable through your server, you need to explicitly set some other aspects as visible, such as gift codes or storefronts form in the app.

Getting a verification

Not only can Discord give you an approval, they could also get you Verified, providing you with the checkmark that makes you appear more trustworthy.

In order to receive this, just visit Discord’s Verification page, and fill out the provided form.

Being a developer on Discord

As your product gets discovered on Discord and your fanbase grows, make sure to track your analytics, which you can access through the application. These analytics will give you valuable insight into your product’s success, such as acquisition funnels, revenue data, and player retention, all of which could allow you to make more informed decisions when it comes to your product’s lifecycle.

And that’s it! Everything you need to know about placing your product on Discord and being a developer on this platform is detailed in this handy guide above.